Typically x86-32bit or x86-64bit, this defines the processor type and support of your system. This is defined when your stage was built and should not be changed.

build

Defines whether your system is a current, stable or experimental build. current systems will have newer packages unmasked than stable systems. This is defined when your stage is built and is typically not changed.

subarch

Defines CPU optimizations for your system. The subarch is set at the time the stage3 is built, but can be changed later to better settings if necessary. Be sure to pick a setting that is compatible with your CPU.

flavor

Defines the general type of system, such as server or desktop, and will set default USE flags appropriate for your needs.

mix-ins

Defines various optional settings that you may be interested in enabling.

Note

Flavors can (and often do) inherit settings from other flavors and mix-ins. Mix-ins can also inherit settings from other mix-ins. For example, X is inherited by gnome. The epro tool will show both as being enabled so there are no surprises.

In the future, the server flavor will include the core flavor, plus specific settings designed for servers. At the moment, it is equivalent to the core flavor.

workstation

The workstation flavor is a minimal desktop system. It includes the core flavor, plus these mix-ins: X, audio, dvd, media and console-extras.

desktop

The desktop flavor includes the common settings for any full-featured desktop system. It includes the workstation flavor plus printing support. The user is expected to further customize their system with a desktop environment of choice, such as KDE, GNOME, or XFCE, possibly by using a mix-in.

Mix-ins

A system can have any number of mix-ins enabled at a time. The following mix-ins are available:

Mix-in

Description

audio

Enables core audio-related settings, currently related to ALSA.

console-extras

Enables things that are nice to have for console-only systems. Currently enabling gpm in USE.

dvd

USE settings related to optical drives -- CDR/DVD-ROM/RW use.

gnome

USE and package.use settings required to merge GNOME. Designed to be used with desktop or workstation flavor.

hardened

Enables hardened support.

kde

USE and package.use settings required to merge KDE. Designed to be used with desktop or workstation flavor.

media

USE settings related to audio/video media encoding. Can be for desktops or servers.

print

Enables printing capability.

vmware-guest

Settings related to using Funtoo Linux as a VMWare virtual machine guest.

X

Settings related to the X Window System and hardware support.

xfce

USE settings required for merging XFCE.

Media Device Mix-ins

Media device mix-ins have been created to support media devices, including external and portable devices, and associated low-level hardware support and hardware-focused codecs. Media devices have been categorized into audio and video categories, and consumer and professional categories. "Consumer" devices are those devices that regular desktop users might typically use, while "professional" devices are those that professionals, hobbyists or enthusiasts would typically use. Here are the new mix-ins for media devices:

Media Device Mix-in

Description

mediadevice-base

Common, universally-supported media devices, like IEEE-1394 (Firewire), CDDA, CDIO. Other mediadevice mix-ins have this as a parent.

Media Format Mix-ins

Media format mix-ins have been created to support media formats for reading, writing, encoding and decoding images, audio and video. They have been organized into a "common" collection, for popular formats, and an "extra" collection, which is intended to include "everything else". Let's look at the new mix-ins:

Media Format Mix-in

Description

mediaformat-video-common

Common (ie. popular) video formats.

mediaformat-video-extra

More esoteric video formats.

mediaformat-audio-common

Common (ie. popular) audio formats.

mediaformat-audio-extra

More esoteric audio formats.

mediaformat-gfx-common

Common (ie. popular) graphics formats.

mediaformat-gfx-extra

More esoteric graphics formats.

How to Use Media Mix-Ins

Our existing media mix-in still exists, and is still pulled in by the desktop and workstation flavors automatically. It now includes the following parent mix-ins:

mediadevice-audio-consumer

mediadevice-video-consumer

mediaformat-audio-common

mediaformat-gfx-common

mediaformat-video-common

In addition, there is a new media-pro mix-in which needs to be enabled manually, which pulls in the following mix-ins:

mediadevice-audio-pro

mediadevice-video-pro

So typically, you would enable the desktop or workstation flavor, and if you need professional hardware support, you'd also enable the media-pro mix-in. If you needed any additional media formats support, you could enable one or more of the mediaformat-*-extra mix-ins to add the formats you needed. Of course, it's possible to enable only the specific mix-ins you need, and also complement these mix-ins with specific USE variable settings you might require.

How Profile Settings are Stored

Funtoo Linux stores its profile settings in the /etc/portage/make.profile/parent file. Typically, users don't need to modify this file, instead using ego and epro to make changes, but it can be handy to take a look at what the contents of the file look like. A simple server might have profile settings as follows:

History and Origins

This new system is really a completion of the original cascading profile design that was co-designed by Daniel Robbins and Seemant Kulleen and implemented by Seemant Kulleen as part of Portage. Funtoo Profiles designed to leverage the existing cascading profile system and provide something much more useable and maintainable for users and developers alike. Here are some of its benefits:

Fewer settings in /etc/make.conf. CHOST and ARCH no longer set in /etc/make.conf.